Is the cost for repairing a 2nd home ready for sale 90 day before closing counted as sale expenses and added to "Sale Expenses Not Reported on 1099-B" in TurboTax?

[j_villager]

We sold a 2nd home in 2016 and tried to calculate the gain.  Before closing we have repaired and fixed the house to be ready for sale.  Since they are not improvements according to IRS, can we add those repair costs to the sale expenses?  For a 90 day period before closing?  Do we just add those costs to "Sale Expenses Not Reported on 1099-B" in TurboTax since we didn't receive a 1099-B?

[TaxLady · Accepted solution]

I am assuming this is a vacation home & not a rental property. With that in mind, since you say these were repairs rather than improvements, your expenses cannot be added to the basis of the home or to the expense of sale.  I have attached Publication 523, Selling your Home.  Please refer to pages 12 and 19 where they discuss allowable expenses. (In the good old days there was a term called "Fix Up Expenses" and that may be what you're thinking of, but that is no longer allowable.)